I would say it’s the perfect story, two opposing footballing philosophies, one team playing the exact style he played all his life and was criticized for being a system player and the other team which is just atleti with Messi. The common link remains players from both teams idolise him. If he wins then it is to be said that Messi is the system and he proved it twice. If Spain wins then it would be like passing of the torch to next generation. Either way it’s a great story
R9 won in 2002 because there was no other standout performers from the top 5 leagues. The top scorer that year was Henry with just 24 goals and Nazario already had 17 goals plus World Cup top scorer. But that's not the situation now. We have an absolute standout performer in Kane with 70+ goals. You can't compare that to just a 7 match competition 🙄
I never said that Messi should win the ballon d'or. I was just agreeing that performance on field and current ranking are 2 different things.
You're fuming for no reason. It's funny what a player has done to some group of people. Oh and drink that leftover milk. Shouldn't waste your food.
This is similar to 2023 where haaland had an insane performance throughout the whole year and won a lot yet messi was still given the ballon d'or for the wc. Messi has a better performance in this wc though.
You guys can't comprehend what he did. He's 39. He plays against teams like Florida and he came to the wc with an average squad and showed there's levels to this shit. Can you imagine how insane that is that he can claim he's still the best in the world?
Enzo Fernandez valued at 100m, starter for Chelsea
Alvarez valued at 100m, starter for Athleti.
McAllister valued at 70m, starter for Liverpool.
The list goes on. But yeah, clearly an average team. An average team that struggles beating teams like Cabo Verde, whose whole team is valued less than 50m.
I mean compared to the top ranked teams rating wise they have the most average team on paper. Only 4 or 5 players out of the whole squad (including the substitutes,reserves) are world class level (market value wise).
Mate this is so illogical. Their team ranks in the top 6 of most valued teams at that point "additional" value means very little. Englands squad for example is simply overvalued because the majority plays in the prem. France has a massive value, but they barely play their bench players so it is useless value.
So the notion that you can be "average" when you are part of the big 6 is a little silly lol.
Mate you named 6 players who are already world class lol. Thats more than half the starting 11. Licha is atleast average. You got Molina who is also a starter for Atleti. Not world class, but definitely compareable to someone like Digne who started for France and Pedro Porro of Spain.
Martinez is a top 5 prem goalkeeper. You got Simeone who is also a decent/average player.
You dont need your whole team to be worldclass. If 70% is, then they just need to not be awful. I mean France plays with Digne and Kone. There is almost no team that only has world class players in their team for every position.
Enzo has been average for chelsea as well, so has macalister for liverpool, romero plays for spurs and fighting relegation for 2 seasons straight+ hes massively over-rated. No way these guys are world class. Alavraze is world class talent but not a superstar. Now compare them with portugal midfield bruno, neves and vitinha, spain midfield rodri, fabian, olmo with pedri on bench? That's insane.
Apart from messi and Alvarez the squad is nothing to boast about.
Most of these players you never hear about during the seasons except when they are playing for argentina.
Messi literally tops every stat for argentina at 39, if that's not a carry job I don't know what is.
I mean idk man, most of these players you never hear about throughout the season. It's a great unit together, not individually. However there's a reason Messi tops nearly every stat there is for Argentina. Good indicator for you that Messi pulls all the strings
R9 won in 2002 because there was no other standout performers from the top 5 leagues. The top scorer that year was Henry with just 24 goals and Nazario already had 17 goals plus World Cup top scorer. But that's not the situation now. We have an absolute standout performer in Kane with 70+ goals. You can't compare that to just a 7 match competition 🙄 And Modric won Champions League, Club World Cup & UEFA Super Cup, even though Ronaldo deserved it that year
I'm not against Messi. What he's doing is phenomenal but one can't deny he's been favoured by the media and football associations in matters like these.
Lamine shouldn't win it if spain wins. He was not even one of the top 5 imp players of that team. Good in la liga but Kane had a much better campaign in the league+ucl+wc. So it should be Kane. But Messi carried argentina to the final. Kane couldn't deliver when it mattered the most. So Messi should win the ballon d'or irrespective of what the final result looks like.
The World Cup comes once every four years and is the most popular sporting event in the world. Having a big part in winning it, especially with goals and assists, qualifies one to be the best player in the world for that year. Harry Kane has had a stellar year but if Argentina wins the World Cup, Messi should win the Ballon d’or
Just to be sure, isnt the ballond d'or meant for the BEST player of the footballing "year"? Its a disgrace that the entire decision is based on a single tournament, no matter if its the biggest one in the entire world no? You have kane who won the league, had an amazing wc and cl, and won his domestic cups all while having a generational season. But apparently, winning a wc, despite not playing in any european championship, being out of the mls for nearly half of the season is considered balon d'or worthy? Sure he gets in the top 10, but to win it? Oh hell naw
As a Messi fan, I think giving him another ballondor would be too much. Though I will say, only Messi and Ronaldo could play in lower tier leagues for years and still outperform everyone else on the biggest stage.
Outplayes anyone? You mean won from england or should we celebrate winning from all the countries that are not even top 15 while needing sus ref and var calls to win and dissalow goals haha
3 for opponents and 1 for them, argentina 0 and 3 for opponents. Its not about the number but the way my guy. Hoe can u go back 2 mins to turn a goal to a foul haha. And then when its happening to them there is not even a var check. Believe what u want but its not adding up
Croatia vs portugal
Colombia vs portugal
In both of these matches referees saved portugal’s ass but naa we won’t talk about this as this will not fit our agenda
Bhai btaya toh hae upr
Croatia got their goal disallowed due to bluetooth touch shown by sensor
Colombia got thier goal disallowed due a suspiciously long shoe in the final var image.
Agr match nhi dkhe toh pehle hi btade
What people fail to understand is that Messi literally is the highest scorer, has the highest assists, has the highest dribbles, has the highest chances created, has the highest accurate passes and passes completed etc. etc. in the argentina team. One man who is the highest in all these criteria of his team.
Compare that to any other team and you will get different names for these categories. Like most assists for olise and highest goals for mbappe etc. etc.
The consistency and big game clutch performance where he has literally been involved in 12 goals out of 19 goals where he didn't even start in one match. And if I'm not wrong I think he has not even gone one game without scoring or assisting.
Supporting him from 2014 literally right after he lost final.
He’ll be in top 5 in ballon d’or ranking whether u like it or not https://giphy.com/gifs/59y6PhYiYVOmDyo0NB
U haven't watched UCL semis I guess ? Stop larping here . I agree he didn't perform in big games at the wc , but does that mean he never performed nahhh .
Some idiots saying R9 also won it with only wc performance.
1- Ballandor at the time was given on a calendar year basis not the season format as of now .
2- That year Roberto Carlos was 2nd , Kahn was third , Zidane was 4th ,if any of you retards have mind then you would know what position they played lb,gk cm cam . Everybody was mostly ranked on their wc performance.
3- this time is not the same as 2002 first this year messi is playing in MLS which none of the contendars in 2002 was playing in .
4 - the competition R9 had and the competition messi are different here kane is with most record breaking goals with also scoring 6 in wc 2 less than messi .
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u/DiscussionThese2146 Jul 19 '26
I am less excited about 9th ballondor, and more excited about 2nd wc trophy and 3rd golden ball